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Tuesday, July 1, 2014

USA Outdoor Recap and PreVail Coaching

Before jumping into my recap of the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, I want to announce the launch of my personal coaching business, Prevail Coaching. Our team includes University of Portland alum and school record holder in the 10km, Mike Kilburg, and my wife, Eva Vail, who is currently the assistant women's coach for the University of Portland track and cross country teams. This is remote coaching only, as my focus remains on my professional running

career. We are excited to take on anyone from beginners to Olympic hopefuls at any distance from 800 meters to the marathon. My goal is to take the experience that I have had being remotely coached over the last four years by Dave Smith and transfer that experience to others. I have earned personal bests for 10 consecutive years under Dave. The patient, consistent progression is no accident, and I am passionate about sharing this simple philosophy with other runners. We will not offer templates. Coaching is a give and take between the athlete and coach, and each runner is unique in terms of their response to certain types of workouts, weekly volume, and race schedules. I know the workouts of other elite athletes, but that doesn't mean that I can simply copy it and run well. I have also never had a training cycle that has gone exactly according to plan; adjustments are made based on how the body is feeling, minor injuries, and even weather. The process is far more important than the plan. Check out the website, done by Starting Line Designs, at www.prevailcoaching.com and contact me at prevailcoaches@gmail.com.

Now, on to the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. First, I am very happy to break my streak of 6th place finishes at the track championships with a 3rd place finish in a tough field. Given the temperatures and the field, most of us expected a slow pace for the first 5,000 meters, and it was. One of my weaknesses in the past on the track has been closing gaps as they form in front of me. I feel that I kept myself aware and moved up when I needed to. The fourth mile picked up significantly, and Aaron Braun, Sean Quigley, and I went with the move. Rupp and Derrick began to pull away and I was faced with a decision to hang with Braun and race for third, or go with the leaders. I was not sure where I was in terms of fitness coming off the marathon, so I opted to hang back. I saved a lot of energy not leading and felt great heading into the last lap. I was able to close in 58.1 and secure 3rd place. Looking back, I wish I would have had more confidence to go with the leaders, but I made a decision and stuck with it. My confidence is high heading into the 5km race in Heusden, Belgium in two and a half weeks. I know I'm ready for a big personal best. Everything I'm doing right now is geared toward the Olympic Marathon Trials in February 2016, and this short track season is accomplishing the goal of changing pace and training for a couple of months. I am pleased with how quickly my track fitness has returned after the London Marathon.

Feel free to check out last week's training below. It was a low week in terms of volume due to resting for the 10km and then recovering, but the volume will boost back up this week. Thanks again for reading; follow me here on twitter, and check out the new coaching website at www.prevailcoaching.com.

In today's sports culture, it is critically important coaches know the fundamentals of their sport by going to clinics and asking other coaches who have already paved the way. Once the player can trust the coach knows the fundamentals, a new level of trust begins when the coach can talk to the player about the psychological part of life and the game. Personal Coaching for excellence